Genetic engineering, recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation (GM) and gene splicing are terms that apply to the direct manipulation of an organism's genes. History See also History of genetics The existence of genes was first suggested by Gregor Mendel (1822-1884 who in the 1860s studied inheritance ^[1] Engineering is different from traditional breeding, where the organism's genes are manipulated indirectly; genetic engineering uses the techniques of molecular cloning and transformation to alter the structure and characteristics of genes directly. Molecular cloning refers to the procedure of isolating a defined DNA sequence and obtaining multiple copies of it In vivo. Genetic engineering endeavors have found some success in improving crop technology, the manufacture of synthetic human insulin through the use of modified bacteria, the manufacture of erythropoietin in Chinese hamster ovary cells, and the production of new types of experimental mice such as the oncomouse (cancer mouse) for research. Insulin is a Hormone with intensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems (eg vascular compliance The Bacteria ( singular: bacterium) are a large group of unicellular Microorganisms Typically a few Micrometres in length bacteria have Erythropoietin (ɨˌɹɪθɹoʊˈpɔɪɨtɨn /ɨˌɹɪθɹoʊˈpɔɪtən/ or /ɨˌɹiːθɹoʊ-/ or EPO is a Glycoprotein Hormone that controls "Ovaria" redirects here This is also a proposed section and a Synonym of Solanum. The OncoMouse or Harvard mouse is a type of laboratory mouse that has been genetically modified using modifications designed by Philip Leder

Since a protein sequence is specified by a segment of DNA called a gene, novel versions of that protein can be produced by changing the DNA sequence of the gene. Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl

Contents 1 Engineering 1.1 Applications 1.2 Genetic engineering and research 1.3 Human genetic engineering 2 References 3 Reading list 4 See also 5 External links 5.1 General 5.2 News

Engineering

There are several ways through which genetic engineering is accomplished. Essentially, the process has four main steps:

1. Isolation of the genes of interest
2. Insertion of the genes into a transfer vector
3. Transformation of cells of organism to be modified
4. Separation of the genetically modified organism (GMO) from those that have not been successfully modified

Isolation is achieved by identifying the gene of interest that the scientist wishes to insert into the organism, usually using existing knowledge of the various functions of genes. In Epidemiology, a vector is an Organism that does not cause Disease itself but which transmits Infection by conveying Pathogens from In Molecular biology, transformation is the genetic alteration of a cell resulting from the uptake genomic incorporation and expression of foreign DNA information can be obtained from cDNA or gDNA libraries, and amplified using PCR techniques. In Genetics, complementary DNA ( cDNA) is DNA synthesized from a mature MRNA template in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme Reverse Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid is often abbreviated as gDNA. The Genome of an organism (encoded by gDNA) is the biological information of heredity which If necessary, i. e. for insertion of eukaryotic genomic DNA into prokaryotes, further modification may be carried out such as removal of introns or ligating prokaryotic promoters. The prokaryotes (proʊˈkærioʊts singular prokaryote /proʊˈkæriət/ are a group of Organisms that lack a Cell nucleus (= karyon or any other Introns, derived from the term "intragenic regions" and also called intervening sequence (IVS are DNA regions in a Gene that are not translated into

Insertion of a gene into a vector such as a plasmid can be done once the gene of interest is isolated. A plasmid is an extra-chromosomal DNA molecule separate from the chromosomal DNA which is capable of replicating independently of the chromosomal DNA Other vectors can also be used, such as viral vectors, and non-prokaryotic ones such as liposomes, or even direct insertion using gene guns. A liposome is a tiny bubble ( vesicle) made out of the same material as a cell membrane. The gene gun or the Biolistic Particle Delivery System originally designed for Plant transformation, is a device for injecting cells with genetic information Restriction enzymes and ligases are of great use in this crucial step if it is being inserted into prokaryotic or viral vectors. A restriction enzyme (or restriction Endonuclease) is an Enzyme that cuts double-stranded DNA at specific recognition Nucleotide In Biochemistry, a ligase (from the Latin verb ligāre &mdash "to bind" or "to glue together" is an Enzyme that can catalyse Daniel Nathans, Werner Arber and Hamilton Smith received the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their isolation of restriction endonucleases. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) The Nobel Prize (Nobelpriset (Nobelprisen is a Swedish prize established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Peace, Literature The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin is awarded once a year by the Swedish Karolinska Institute. A restriction enzyme (or restriction Endonuclease) is an Enzyme that cuts double-stranded DNA at specific recognition Nucleotide

Once the vector is obtained, it can be used to transform the target organism. Depending on the vector used, it can be complex or simple. For example, using raw DNA with DNA guns is a fairly straightforward process but with low success rates, where the DNA is coated onto particles such as gold and fired directly into a cell. Other more complex methods, such as bacterial transformation or using viruses as vectors have higher success rates. In Molecular biology, transformation is the genetic alteration of a cell resulting from the uptake genomic incorporation and expression of foreign

After transformation, the GMO can be isolated from those that have failed to take up the vector in various ways.

Applications

The first genetically engineered medicine was synthetic human insulin, approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1982. Insulin is a Hormone with intensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems (eg vascular compliance The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Scientists used bacteria in which they inserted plasmids containing the directions for insulin, they were then able to use the bacteria to produce and harvest artificial insulin. Another early application of genetic engineering was to create human growth hormone as replacement for a drug that was previously extracted from human cadavers. A cadaver or corpse is a dead Body. "Cadaver" is normally used as a more formal term for a body being used in medical training or research In 1987 the FDA approved the first genetically engineered vaccine for humans, for hepatitis B. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) A vaccine is a biological preparation which is used to establish or improve immunity to a particular disease Since these early uses of the technology in medicine, the use of GM has gradually expanded to supply a number of other drugs and vaccines. One of the best known applications of genetic engineering is the creation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) such as foods and vegetables that resist pest and bacteria infection and have longer freshness than otherwise. This article is about organisms which have been genetically modified

There are potentially momentous biotechnological applications of GM, for example oral vaccines produced naturally in fruit, at very low cost for most of the country. Biotechnology is Technology based on Biology, especially when used in Agriculture, Food science, and Medicine. A vaccine is a biological preparation which is used to establish or improve immunity to a particular disease

Genetic engineering and research

Although there has been a tremendous[1] revolution in the biological sciences in the past twenty years, there is still a great deal that remains to be discovered. The completion of the sequencing of the human genome, as well as the genomes of most agriculturally and scientifically important animals and plants, has increased the possibilities of genetic research immeasurably. The human genome is the Genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs Expedient and inexpensive access to comprehensive genetic data has become a reality with billions of sequenced nucleotides already online and annotated. Nucleotides are Organic compounds that consist of three joined structures a nitrogenous base a Sugar, and a Phosphate group

• Loss of function experiments, such as in a gene knockout experiment, in which an organism is engineered to lack the activity of one or more genes. A gene knockout is a genetic technique in which an organism is engineered to carry genes that have been made inoperative (have been "knocked out" of the organism This allows the experimenter to analyze the defects caused by this mutation, and can be considerably useful in unearthing the function of a gene. In biology mutations are changes to the Nucleotide sequence of the Genetic material of an organism It is used especially frequently in developmental biology. Developmental Biology is the official journal of the Society for Developmental Biology. A knockout experiment involves the creation and manipulation of a DNA construct in vitro, which, in a simple knockout, consists of a copy of the desired gene which has been slightly altered such as to cripple its function. In vitro ( Latin: within the glass refers to the technique of performing a given experiment in a controlled environment outside of a living Organism The construct is then taken up by embryonic stem cells, where the engineered copy of the gene replaces the organism's own gene. Embryonic stem cells (ES cells are Stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage Embryo known as a Blastocyst. These stem cells are injected into blastocysts, which are implanted into surrogate mothers. The blastocyst is the structure formed in early Embryogenesis, after the formation of the Blastocoel, but before Implantation. Another method, useful in organisms such as Drosophila (fruitfly), is to induce mutations in a large population and then screen the progeny for the desired mutation. Drosophila is a Genus of small flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "fruit flies" A similar process can be used in both plants and prokaryotes. The prokaryotes (proʊˈkærioʊts singular prokaryote /proʊˈkæriət/ are a group of Organisms that lack a Cell nucleus (= karyon or any other
• Gain of function experiments, the logical counterpart of knockouts. These are sometimes performed in conjunction with knockout experiments to more finely establish the function of the desired gene. The process is much the same as that in knockout engineering, except that the construct is designed to increase the function of the gene, usually by providing extra copies of the gene or inducing synthesis of the protein more frequently.

• Tracking experiments, which seek to gain information about the localization and interaction of the desired protein. One way to do this is to replace the wild-type gene with a 'fusion' gene, which is a juxtaposition of the wild-type gene with a reporting element such as Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) that will allow easy visualization of the products of the genetic modification. The green fluorescent protein ( GFP) is composed of 238 Amino acids (26 While this is a useful technique, the manipulation can destroy the function of the gene, creating secondary effects and possibly calling into question the results of the experiment. More sophisticated techniques are now in development that can track protein products without mitigating their function, such as the addition of small sequences which will serve as binding motifs to monoclonal antibodies.
• Expression studies aim to discover where and when specific proteins are produced. In these experiments the DNA sequence before the DNA that codes for a protein, known as a gene's promoter is reintroduced into an organism with the protein coding region replaced by a reporter gene such as GFP or an enzyme that catalyzes the production of a dye. In Biology, a promoter is a region of DNA that facilitates the transcription of a particular Gene. Thus the time and place where a particular protein is produced can be observed. Expression studies can be taken a step further by altering the promoter to find which pieces are crucial for the proper expression of the gene and are actually bound by transcription factor proteins; this process is known as promoter bashing.

Human genetic engineering

See also: Human Genetic Engineering

Human genetic engineering can be used to treat genetic disease, but there is a difference between treating the disease in an individual and in changing the genome that gets passed down to that person's descendants (germ-line genetic engineering). Human genetic engineering is the Genetic engineering of humans by modifying the Genotype of the unborn individual to control what traits it will possess when born A genetic disorder is a condition caused by abnormalities in Genes or Chromosomes While some diseases such as Cancer, are due to genetic abnormalities acquired

Human genetic engineering is already being used on a small scale to allow infertile women with genetic defects in their mitochondria to have children. In Cell biology, a mitochondrion (plural mitochondria) is a membrane-enclosed Organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. ^[2] Healthy human eggs from a second mother are used. The child produced this way has genetic information from two mothers and one father. ^[2] The changes made are germ line changes and will likely be passed down from generation to generation, thus are a permanent change to the human genome. ^[2]

Human genetic engineering has the potential to change human beings' appearance, adaptability, intelligence, character and behavior. It may potentially be used in creating more dramatic changes in humans. There are many unresolved ethical issues and concerns surrounding this technology, and it remains a controversial topic.

References

Reading list

• British Medical Association (1999). The Impact of Genetic Modification on Agriculture, Food and Health. BMJ Books. ISBN 0-7279-1431-6.  
• Donnellan, Craig (2004). Genetic Modification (Issues). Independence Educational Publishers. ISBN 1-86168-288-3.  
• Morgan, Sally (2003). Superfoods: Genetic Modification of Foods (Science at the Edge). Heinemann. ISBN 1-4034-4123-5.  
• Smiley, Sophie (2005). Genetic Modification: Study Guide (Exploring the Issues). Independence Educational Publishers. ISBN 1-86168-307-3.  
• Zaid, A; H. G. Hughes, E. Porceddu, F. Nicholas (2001). Glossary of Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture - A Revised and Augmented Edition of the Glossary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. Available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic. Rome, Italy: FAO. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 ISBN 92-5-104683-2.  

See also

External links

General

• In Focus "Genetically modified foods:Technical and scientific aspects, ethical aspects and legal aspects" (German Reference Centre for Ethics in the Life Sciences)
• BBSRC - The science behind genetic modification
• Ministry for the Environment NZ - Report of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification
• GMO Safety - Information about research projects on the biological safety of genetically modified plants.
• Genetic Engineering A UK site for students, with case studies and ethical responses
• Introduction to Genetic Engineering Covers general information on Genetic Engineering including cloning, stem cells and DNA. Bioethics is the philosophical study of the ethical controversies brought about by advances in Biology and Medicine. Biotechnology is Technology based on Biology, especially when used in Agriculture, Food science, and Medicine. Biological Engineering (including Biological systems engineering and Bioengineering) is a form of Biotechnology that uses broad-based Canola is a type of Edible oil derived from plants initially bred in Canada by Keith Downey and Baldur Stefansson in the 1970s Cloning in Biology is the process of producing populations of genetically-identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as Bacteria, Insects Ethics of technology is a subfield of Ethics addressing the ethical questions specific to the Technology Age. Eugenics is a social Philosophy which advocates the improvement of Human Hereditary traits through various forms of intervention In Evolutionary biology, the field of experimental evolution is concerned with testing Hypotheses and theories of evolution by use of controlled Experiments Genetic erosion is a process whereby an already limited Gene pool of an Endangered species of plant or animal diminishes even more when individuals from the surviving In Population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration) is the transfer of Alleles of Genes from one Population to another Genetic pollution is undesirable Gene flow into wild populations In Population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique Alleles in a Species or Population. Genetically modified (GM foods are food items that have had their DNA changed through Genetic engineering. This article is about organisms which have been genetically modified A transgene is a Gene or genetic material that has been transferred by any of a number of Genetic engineering techniques from one organism to another Human genetic engineering is the Genetic engineering of humans by modifying the Genotype of the unborn individual to control what traits it will possess when born Ice-minus bacteria is a nickname given to a variant of the common Bacterium Pseudomonas syringae ( P This is a list of emerging technologies. Emerging technologies are new and potentially Disruptive technologies, which may marginalize an existing dominant technology Marker assisted selection or marker aided selection (MAS is a process whereby a marker (morphological biochemical or one based on DNA/RNA variation is used for The Monsanto Company ( is a multinational Agricultural biotechnology Corporation. Recombinant DNA is a form of synthetic DNA that is engineered through the combination or insertion of one or more DNA strands thereby combining DNA sequences Research ethics involves the application of fundamental Ethical principles to a variety of topics involving Scientific research. Stem cells are cells found in most if not all multi-cellular Organisms. Synthetic biology is a new area of biological research that combines Science and Engineering in order to design and build ("synthesize" Transgenic bacteria refers to Bacteria which have been genetically engineered Paratransgenesis is a technique that attempts to eliminate a Pathogen from vector populations through transgenesis of a symbiont of the vector
• Gene Therapy Net
• The 8th International Transgenic Technology Conference

News

• Genetically altered babies born, BBC News, Friday, 4 May, 2001
• DEFRA - Genetic Modification (GM)
• BBC News - GM potato trials given go-ahead - 01/12/06
• Brightsurf Science News - New study finds genetically engineered crops could play a role in sustainable agriculture - 06/08/07
• Research highlights on reporter genes used in genetic engineering

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